


Did You Protect Each Other in Battle?

by BoredAroace



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Ancient Greece, Athenian Aziraphale, Athens, Good Omens Holiday Swap, Historical, Historical Accuracy, Ineffable Husbands (Good Omens), Ineffable Idiots (Good Omens), Love Confessions, M/M, Persian War, Sparta - Freeform, Spartan Crowley
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:01:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21912580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BoredAroace/pseuds/BoredAroace
Summary: Beta'd by Buttered_Walnut.For MielPetite on Tumblr for the Good Omens Holiday Swap 2019. Hope you enjoy!An Ancient Greek AU. Aziraphale is part of the Athenian Congress, and had to try and get the Spartans to help them fight the Persians, who would crush them without their help. Thing is, Athens and Sparta are the biggest rivals in Greece, and even worse, Crowley is part of the Spartan government.Can be seen as a romantic or queerplatonic relationship.
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19
Collections: Good Omens Holiday Swap 2019





	1. Preface

**Author's Note:**

> My prompt was 1. History, 2. Warmth, 3. Gratitude, so I hope I got it all.  
> There will be one chapter posted a day.  
> Also, I'm a history major, so all of this is based off of what I learned in class and in the textbook. I haven't studied these things in detail, and I had to assume some things so that it would fit the story, so all in all it is mostly accurate.  
> Hope I didn't slap you in the face with all the history in the Preface here.

The Athenians, back when they were at their most famous, had a type of Senate called a Boule. Citizens would be randomly picked to be part of the Boule, and it was no accident that the angel Aziraphale was considered a citizen, despite meeting exactly one of the requirements (not being a slave). However, it was an accident that Aziraphale was chosen to be a member of the Boule, or at least that’s what She wanted him to believe. 

It also happened that the Athenians had gotten themselves into a war they weren’t prepared for with the Persians. The Athenian polis desperately needed the Spartans’ help. All their previous attempts to get them to agree to help were ignored. It was time to send someone to convince them of how dire the situation was. 

The problem was, Athens and Sparta were rivals. None of the citizens of the Boule were willing to go to the enemy to beg for the continued existence of Greece. It was their pride that got them into the war and it was what what going to doom them if they didn’t get over it. 

Thankfully, angels didn’t care much for human pride. Aziraphale volunteered to go without a second thought. 

If the others thought it was a bit odd, they hid it out of gratitude for not having to sit through the argument that surely would have followed if Aziraphale hadn’t volunteered. 

The meeting ended soon after. Aziraphale was to leave as soon as he got his affairs in order. 

...

Over in Sparta, the demon Crowley had wiggled his way into the Spartan government, which was an oligarchy. There were two kings, five annually elected ephors who were overseers, and twenty-eight gerousia, who were a group of elders who were also advisors, like a cabinet. 

Crowley was one of the elected ephors. The one before him had suddenly gotten banished, and Crowley just happened to be the best replacement. 

The demon mainly used his position to tell his head office that he was the one that had implemented all the ‘coming of age’ rituals that the Spartan soldiers had to go through before they were fully seen as functioning members of society. 

The things they were required to do were very pleasing to Crowley’s superiors, and if one thing is certain- Crowley never could have come up with this on his own. 

The soon-to-be-soldiers were required to kill a slave in the middle of the night without being caught- and if they were, they’d be killed themselves. 

But that’s not all. There was a ‘graduation’ of sorts called the Agon. Agon later becoming the word ‘agony’, and that sums it up pretty well. 

The cruelty wasn’t limited to soldiers, either. 

Any babies that were less than perfect were left out in the woods to fend for themselves, and mothers saw childrearing as a duty for the state, so they allowed it. 

It wasn’t all bad though. 

Since the men were always training, the women were left to be the head of the household. They were the shop owners and the ones who went to school, though it was a school for fighting. This was Sparta, after all. They could inherit land and were in charge of finances. They even married and had children later in life. 

Crowley kept those parts from his supervisors, but he greatly appreciated them greatly on his more feminine days. 

Overall, this was an ideal place for Crowley. At least until Aziraphale came.


	2. Chapter 1

The demon had been on his way to a meeting after wandering around the shops when he saw Aziraphale. He had just come into the city, and was heading to the same meeting. 

At least that’s what he said to the storekeeper. 

As soon as Crowley saw him, he ducked behind a building and listened in. 

Last he heard, Aziraphale was headed to Athens- and that was maybe thirty years ago? Fourty?

Didn’t matter. Had to be enough to get himself into a position of power and Crowley knew exactly what Athens wanted from Sparta. 

This would be a matter of keeping his peace in Sparta or helping Aziraphale. 

Welp. 

Who was he kidding?

Looks like he wasn’t going to have any long naps soon. 

Crowley’s suspicions were confirmed as he waited for the angel to finish talking to the shopkeeper. 

He couldn’t help but revel in how adorable Aziraphale sounded as he spoke. He had gotten the innkeeper to open up about her love of stories and the two were enthusiastically sharing their favorites. 

Crowley couldn’t even see his face and he was already lost in his love. 

This was going to be a long day. 

...

“Aziraphale!”

The demon rounded the corner of a street and pretended to spot the angel for the first time. 

Aziraphale stopped walking and spun around.

“Crowley?” The blond’s eyes widened and he smiled as he saw the other. “Crowley! I was hoping I’d see you. I wasn’t sure if you had moved on yet, you’ve been here for nearly half a century, haven’t you?”

Crowley fell into step with Aziraphale, and they continued on the path to the palace. 

“Uh, yeah. That sounds about right. I got elected ephor a while back. Been very helpful in being evil and causing trouble and stuff.”

Aziraphale stayed silent for a moment and Crowley blessed himself for making his angel uncomfortable. 

Thankfully Aziraphle didn’t notice, because he started right back up again. 

“I do hope you didn’t cause too much trouble. These people seem lovely.”

“Oh don’t worry, angel. You know me, the humans came up with it all on their own, the position just helps me take credit for it. You wouldn’t believe the stuff they come up with here- don’t judge the whole city on one conversation, they can all kill you in your sleep, it’s almost impressive…”

The rest of the conversation went well, and they continued talking all the way to the palace and to the beginning of the meeting, where Crowley vouched for the visitor to their council. 

...  
It looks like their conversation went too well, because at the end of the meeting, one of the Kings, Leonidus, cornered them in a hallway as they were leaving to Crowley’s room. 

“Hello, friends. I appreciated your council this session, Crowley. It helped ease all the others with the newcomer,” he said, nodding to Aziraphale, who smiled back. “You must have known each other for a very long time in order to vouch for him.”

Crowley let Aziraphale answer. 

“Yes, it feels like we’ve known each other for millenia, at least.”

“So you fought in wars together?”

“Yes, sir. Many.”

King Leonidus took a moment to study the pair. 

“Crowley, have you each protected the other in battle?”

Crowley’s face turned pink, and he rushed to answer before Aziraphale could. 

“Yes, always.”

Crowley slowly became pinker as the King lit up. 

Leonidus laughed. 

“Why didn’t you say anything sooner? I would have had you put in the same room earlier. If you will excuse me, I will inform the helots of the change.”

It just so happened that since the men in Sparta were always either training or at war, they mainly only had contact with other men, resulting in relationships within the ranks. Soldiers would be encouraged to keep those relations because it was believed that they would fight harder if they knew that a loved one was fighting alongside them. 

Crowley had just told one of the kings that he and Aziraphale had protected each other in battle many times. 

He could only hope that Aziraphale didn’t catch on.


	3. Chapter 2

There was an awkward silence as King Leonidus left. 

“Ngk.” Crowley looked over to his angel. “Um, yeah. That’s normal here. All soldiers. Well, all the men, anyway. They… like to… share beds. Yeah. They’re together all the time so they got used to sharing heat while sleeping and now soldiers that are close to each other- close enough to protect each other in battle- will share rooms. Just ‘cause they’re used to it.”

Aziraphale blinked at him. 

“You’re telling me… that the Spartans… enjoy cuddling?”

“Yeah. They sure do. It gets cold out there.”

Aziraphale just stared at him. 

Crowley cleared his throat. “Well, um, back to my- our room for drinks, then?”

The blond nodded. 

The walk there was quiet and awkward. Too much so for the dynamic conversations they had been having up to that point. 

The redhead could tell that Aziraphale was holding his emotions back, and it was making him nervous. 

Aziraphale was smart, he probably knew what Crowley had really said to the King. He could only hope that Aziraphale wasn’t too mad. 

All of Aziraphale’s stuff was already there when Crowley opened the door. The angel just strode over to the bed and sat on it, wringing his hands together. He was waiting for Crowley so settle down so that he could talk to him. 

Naturally, Crowley did everything but that. 

“Oh, look angel! They brought you stuff here so quickly, how convenient!” He paced around the room. “How ‘bout that alcohol, now? I’m sure I have glasses around here-”

“Crowley, sit down.”

The demon sat down. 

“You told King Leonidus that we protected each other in battle. You must know the connotations that has.”

“Hgg.”

“Yes, well, I suppose the question now is why did you do that?”

Aziraphale’s calm was more unnerving to the demon than the silence was. He had to do something or he was going to admit something that the angel wasn’t ready for.

Crowley’s voice turned cold. “I did it so that you could get out of here faster.”

Aziraphale’s jaw opened and closed again. 

“You came here, to MY polis, and you want to start a war. I was happy here! Am happy! Now it’s all going to be ruined if you don’t leave here as soon as you can. I’m a demon! I’m selfish and I don’t like you being in my territory! I like how easily I can tempt these Spartans and I don’t want you destroying all my hard work.”

The angel’s eyebrows were furrowed. 

After a moment in which Crowley was tempted so continue yelling, Aziraphale spoke. 

“Don’t lie to me, Crowley.” His voice was stiff and Crowley could tell that he hurt the angel, but being hurt and mad was going to do less damage than the truth in the long run. 

“I’m not lying.”

“You’re a demon, you lie. That’s what you do.”

Crowley made a big show of stomping around. He was starting to get worried, Aziraphale was usually easy to anger when he brought up being a selfish demon who wanted to harm humans. 

“Yeah? Well what if I’m not this time! I could have been lying this entire time and you wouldn’t know any better because you’re a goody-two-shoes angel.” 

The blond stood up and was in front of Crowley in two steps. He had straightened out to his full height and combined with Crowley’s slouching, he was taller than the demon. 

The redhead was backed into a wall and Aziraphale tried to make it very clear that he was having none of Crowley’s bullshit today, thank you very much. 

“Listen here, Crowley. I know you. I’ve known you for thousands of years. I admit that we have had some bad times, but I can tell when you’re lying, and you’re doing that now. Tell me why you said what you said.”

Crowley felt like crying. He was going to have a fucking panic attack if he didn’t come up with something fast, and he didn’t know what to do. Aziraphale was too close. His bright blue eyes were looking into his and he couldn’t help it. 

“I love you.”

Aziraphale jerked back, letting Crowley go, who shot out of Aziraphale’s range, and when he saw that the angel was blocking his exit, turned into a snake and shot himself under the bed. 

It was a few minutes before Aziraphale felt that his voice was steady enough to speak. 

“You… love me?”

When he received no answer, the angel kept talking and slowly made his way over to the floor near the bed, making sure that Crowley could use his voice to find his location. 

The angel never thought to look, but once he did, he felt all the love coming from the demon. It was the truth. It didn’t matter if he never thought about his feelings towards Crowley, but he wasn’t about to let him suffer through any heartbreak just because he went against the grain and fell in love with an angel. 

Once he admitted this to himself, Aziraphale’s memory pulled up memories with the redhead, recalling all the good times they spent together, and how beautiful he looked with his long hair, and how adorable he was when he rambled about plants and animals when drunk and he would be damned if he was going to let him get hurt, either from him, or that bastard Hastur tha-”

Oh. 

“Crowley, dearest, I’m not mad at you, if that’s what you’re afraid of.”

No movement. 

“Crowley, come out, please, for me?”

All Crowley wanted to do with hide under the bed forever, but he knew he couldn’t ignore such a request from his angel, so he compromised. 

Fast as lightning, he slithered out from under the bed and up the bedpost, going directly under the blankets that were layed over the top. 

Aziraphale closed his eyes and tried not to laugh as a flood of affection for the snake flowed through him. 

How did he not realize sooner?

“Truely, Crowley, I am not upset. Quite the opposite, actually.”

The angel was rewarded with a snout poking out from under the covers and a tiny, pink tongue flicking out so fast that he almost didn’t catch it. 

The blond knew Crowley, he was sure to be panicking now if he hadn’t been already. He just had to convince him that he wasn’t lying. 

“Do you remember the first time we got properly intoxicated together? It was back on that town that was right next to the Euphrates river.” The angel chuckled, “We were so out of it that we managed to miracle all the livestock for miles right outside the tavern because you- both of us were sad that they would eventually be killed and eaten. We spent hours wading around them and giving them increasingly bad names.” 

Aziraphale was smiling so hard it hurt. “We forgot to sober up before we passed out on some sheep, remember? We woke up to the worst headaches and to so many angry farmers. It was the first time I felt love for you.” 

Aziraphale knew that it was true a second before he said it. 

More of Crowley’s face slid into view. Now, there were only shadows from the blankets keeping his eyes hidden. 

“You kept trying to appoligissse to them while keeping the animalssss out of their way, angel. I won’t be forgetting that anytime sssssoon.”

Aziraphale’s cheeks were hurting from smiling so much, he thought about trying to stop, but found that he didn’t care enough to try. 

“Yes, well, I recall that you tried to convince the poor farmers that they sold all their animals to us overnight.”

Crowley’s head fully came into view. “I almossst got away with it, too. You didn’t get the hint I gave you to give them all hangoverss bad enough that they would doubt their memoriesss while I miracled the money into their pocketss.”

…

Soon enough, Crowley had glided over the edge of the bed and was thoroughly wrapped around his angel’s shoulders. 

Both angel and demon were earnestly wrapped up in their love for each other, whether newly realized, or recently freed. 

These moments would be spoken fondly of between the two for the rest of eternity, and they would gleefully tell the story to anyone who would listen. They had the relationship that everyone that came across wanted, and they wouldn’t give it up for anything, even their sides.


	4. Chapter 3

The pair walked through the doors of the meeting hall, hand in hand, prepared to miracle themselves out of danger if there was any. 

They were some of the last to arrive, and nobody in the hall even blinked at their display of affection. 

It gave them a burst of confidence that was big enough to double their will to make sure Athens- and all of Greece had the manpower to get out of this incoming war intact. 

The meeting from the day before had served as a way to gauge Aziraphale’s intentions, and thanks to Crowley’s position as an ephor and his unintentional confession to King Leonidus, they had accepted that his intentions were not to harm Sparta. 

It went fairly smoothly after that, both sides had heard of the sheer size and destruction that the Persian army could bring. 

They were clever too, just before Aziraphale left Athens, they had gotten worn from a scout that they had managed to take a shortcut across the Athos peninsula by building a bridge that was miles long out of boats. What was more amazing was that they had managed to build and get 500,000 soldiers, animals and supplies across in record time. 

At Aziraphale’s pleading and Crowley’s occasional comment about how the Persians would likely come after them after they were done with the Athenians were enough to get them to agree to help. 

The Spartans did have a history of saying things and then not following through with them, so only time would tell if the Athenians actually did end up receiving any aid. 

…

As for Aziraphale and Crowley, they spent a large amount of time just basking in each other’s presence. In the stolen time between the end of negotiations and the start of the war, they traveled to Athens to give the Boule word of the allyship between the two poleis. 

They took great care to cover their tracks and throw both Heaven and Hell off their sent. For the entirety of the trip, Crowley used a different name, and when they returned to Sparta, they pretended that Aziraphle had stayed in Athens and changed her body to look like a woman’s. 

If the worst case scenario happened, they could say that they had no idea the other would be there (which was true, after all), and said that they had to work together in order to maintain their human covers. 

So they spent their time in Athens as if they were on a nice vacation. Aziraphale showed Crowley all his favorite spots in the area around his home. 

They went to the Acropolis, which even Crowley had to agree was better than the one in Sparta, especially with all the art and poetry that filled the place. Sparta was a warrior society, they didn’t have much in the way of the arts. 

The city’s temple had been completed less than a half century ago and was called the Parthenon, and that was also more impressive than anything Sparta had. Crowley could see why the angel liked it here so much. 

They spent the rest of the evening sightseeing before retreating back to Aziraphale’s place of residence and drinking a ridiculous amount of alcohol, as usual. 

Only, they didn’t have their usual drunken conversations once they were done drinking. Instead they cuddled in bed. Aziraphale brought along a book that he thought Crowley would like and read to him while the demon’s head rested on his shoulder and watched his eyes fly over the pages. 

…

Back in Sparta, Aziraphale had introduced herself as her own sister, and nobody really questioned it, thanks to a quick miracle. 

There wasn’t as much to see in Sparta, so Crowley and Aziraphale mainly just visited any restaurant that Aziraphale wanted to see. 

In the times between meals they would either wander either the streets or the palace or they would spend time sharing how Heaven or Hell worked so that they could better come up with plans to stay out of trouble. 

The plans that they had built the foundations of during these times would serve them well in the coming years of the war. 

…

The war that the Spartans were begged to help win would one day be called the Persian war. 

This war had the power to change history in a big way. If the Persians won, Greece would be a husk of what it once was. If Greece won, then it would have power over a huge empire. 

The people in these lands wouldn’t be the only ones affected, the entire region would be affected. This war impacts the start of the Roman Republic, it truly is a gamechanger. 

For Aziraphale and Crowley, this war meant that they would have to fight for the continuation of what they build for themselves in Greece, or to cut their losses and move on. 

But first, Greece would have to learn how to work together. 

Their world depended on it.


End file.
